1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to machines used in the process of thermally transferring images onto plastic identifier tags, such as ear tags used for cattle identification.
2. Background Information
Custom-imprinted plastic tags are used in a variety of contexts to identify and/or track items or commodities. This is particularly true in the cattle industry where plastic xe2x80x9cear tagsxe2x80x9d are used to distinguish cattle of one herd or group from those of others. Merely differentiating the colors of plastic ear tags is not sufficient to adequately identify ownership of cattle, in part, because there are insufficient tag colors available to provide unique identifiers for each owner""s cattle, even, for example, in the context of one, large cattle handling facility. Therefore, uniquely identifying indicia (numerals, letters, and/or logos) are printed on plastic tag blanks.
The most cost-effective process for printing plastic ear tag blanks involves xe2x80x9chot stampingxe2x80x9d images through the use of thermal film (xe2x80x9chot stamp foilxe2x80x9d). When a sufficiently heated stamp block exhibiting a raised character (a numeral or letter, for example) is pressed against a tag blank with a segment of hot stamp foil positioned there between, the thermal xe2x80x9cinkxe2x80x9d from the hot stamp foil which overlies the raised character on the stamp block is transferred to and thermally welded onto the plastic tag blank.
To achieve consistently acceptable results in hot stamping plastic tag blanks, the mechanisms involved must effect a substantial compression between the heated stamp block(s) and plastic tag blanks (with the properly positioned, intervening hot stamp foil). Also, the stamp blocks are heated to a temperature such that contact between a user""s skin and the heated stamp blocks would cause immediate burn injury. A worst-case scenario involves an operator having a hand, for example, caught in the stamping mechanism such that the hand is crushed between the very hot stamp blocks and the mechanism which presses the tag blanks against the stamp blocks. Such dangers are very real with machines of the present art, because the stamping area of such machines are readily accessible because of their mechanical configuration.
In an attempt to minimize the dangers of using hot stamp machines, as is true of many industrial machines, double-hand safety switch systems and/or optical xe2x80x9clight gatesxe2x80x9d are typically installed to govern actuation of the machines such that the machines may not be actuated for a stamping operation unless the operator has each of his or her hands on both of the switching members, or (in the case of light gates) not extending past a predetermined point, which, therefore, is supposed to mean that the operator""s hands are clear of the stamping mechanism.
Perhaps, to the surprise of most but industrial safety engineers who encounter such problems on a regular basis, even such measures as a double-hand safety systems and light gates do not adequately prevent injuries from machines such as hot stamp machines. Workers are known to disable or xe2x80x9cfoolxe2x80x9d such safety systems to speed their work or reduce the xe2x80x9chasslexe2x80x9d of moving so far from the position of their repetitious hand work. Also, merely insuring that one person has two hands on the appropriate safety switches does not ensure that other workers have their hands in safe positions relative to the dangerous mechanisms.
In part, because of the substantial risk of manufacturer""s and distributor""s liability issues, the presently available hot stamp machines are even less suitable for on-site use by end users (cattle owners or feed lot owners, for example) than they are for in-house factory or distributor use. Therefore, tags which would be much more readily available to serve immediate needs, if only hot stamp machines were available in the field, must be ordered from distant factories or tag distributors. This is unduly time-consuming and frustrating to end users of custom imprinted plastic tags.
It would well serve the custom imprinted plastic tag industry and its end users to provide an improved hot stamp machine which, because of its mechanical configuration, would render injury by the stamping mechanism of the hot stamp machine virtually impossible during normal use. An example of such a machine would be one having a simple aperture no larger than is necessary to admit a tag blank there through. To imprint a plastic tag blank, one would merely pass the blank through the aperture and the appropriate indicia is automatically stamped thereon. Thereafter, the printed tag is ejected from the machine. Such a machine would eliminate the need (as exists through use of presently available hot stamp machines) to manually place a tag blank in position for stamping and thereby place a user""s hands and fingers directly in position for possible catastrophic injury.
Because of the substantially improved safety margin involved in using such an improved hot stamp machine, such machines could be placed in the field for end users and thereby facilitate the immediate availability of custom imprinted plastic tags for such end users. In addition, such machines could be used to replace the dangerous, existing hot stamp machines at factories and distributor facilities to reduce the risk of injury to even experienced workers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved hot stamp machine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hot stamp machine which poses less danger to users than presently available such machines.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hot stamp machine which, is more suitable for end user use than presently available hot stamp machines which are suitable only for factory or tag distributor in-house use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hot stamp machine which exhibits a small aperture through which tag blanks are inserted for automatic imprinting but, because of the dimensions of the aperture, user""s fingers cannot accidentally reach the stamping mechanism for possible injury.
In satisfaction of these and related objectives, the present invention provides an improved hot stamp machine which, because of its mechanical configuration, facilitates stamping operations which are virtually devoid of any risk of injury to the user. The hot stamp machine of the present invention is configured such that a plastic tag blank is inserted through a small aperture (not substantially larger than is necessary to admit the plastic tag blank there through), and with the tag blank fully in position for stamping, the stamping operation automatically occurs within the machine, with the dangerous stamping mechanism being safely out of reach of the user.
Because of the safety features inherent in the machine of the present invention, a hot stamp machine according to the present invention is suitable for end user placement with minimal exposure of liability for injury for the manufacturer or distributor. Plastic tag distributors will be at a competitive advantage if they are able to provide their customers with such machines and thereby facilitate immediate availability of custom imprinted tags on an as needed basis.